Air conditioner



Oct. 22, 1968 G. RIELLO 3,406,530

AIR CONDITIONER Filed Sept. 15. 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet l M mm \Q Q m m h m m m c?) I cl N mma inflow x f? v .INEENTOR.

G. RIELLO Oct. 22, 1968 AIR CONDITIONER 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 13. 1966 INVENTOR 1mm R IELL o ATTORNEYS G. RIEL'LO Oct. 22, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 13. 1966 INVENTOR. IIRDAW kluo United States 4 Claims. (or. 62262) ABSTRACT on THE DISCLOSURE Appartaus for selectively heating or cooling air in a room. The apparatus includes an elongated casing which has opposed open ends of identical dimensions. The casing has in its interior a first chamber which communicates with one of these open ends and a second chamber which communicates with the other of these open ends. A condenser unit is located in the first chamber, while an evaporator unit is located in the second chamber, and a compressor which is in the case communicates with both of these units for circulating refrigerant therethrough. An impeller means is situated in the casing for inducing flow of air past the condenser unit and past the evaporator unit, and a motor is provided for driving the impeller means. The apparatus further includes an inner cover member for communicating with the interior of the room and an outer cover member for communicating with the outer atmosphere, and these cover members are removably carried by the casing'for interchangeably covering the open ends thereof. Thus, in order to convert the apparatus from a heating unit to a cOOling unit, and-from a cooling unit to a heating unit, it is only necessary to reverse the casing relative to the inner and outer cover members.

This invention relates to apparatus for use in selectively heating and cooling air in a room -often termed airconditioning apparatus-and it refers particularly to apparatus of the type which may be used for both heating and cooling air in a room, such apparatus being usable for cooling purposes in summer and for heating purposes in winter. p

It is an object of the inventionto provide apparatus of relatively simple character which may be used selectively for both heating and cooling the air in a room'. Another object is to provide apparatus of the'type referred to which maybe converted from an air heater to an air cooler, or vice versa, with very little effort and in a very short period of time. I

This is done,;according to the invention, by providing apparatus having an evaporator unit and a condenser unit, with front and rear -end membersfor attachment to the apparatus for the purpose of directing the air stream into the room to be heated or cooled and of mounting the apparatus adjacent an opening leading from the room, respectively, and wherein said front and rear 'end members are detachably and interchangeably fitted to the casing housing the evaporator and condenser units so that by removing the said end members from the casing, reversing the casing .and replacing said en'd members inte rch anged positions in the casing the effective functions of the evaporator and condenser' units, so far as the air in a room is concerned, may be reversed.

According to one aspect of the invention there is' providedapparatus, for selectively heating or cooling air in a room, having a casing, a first chamber with an open end at one side of the casing, a'second chamber with an open end at a second side of the casing, a condenser unit in the first chamber and an evaporator unit in the second chamber, a compressor in said casing for circulating refrigerant through the condenser unit and through the evaporator unit, impeller means adapted to induce the atent O 3,4fi,53t Patented Oct. 22, 1968 flow of air past the condenser unit and past the evaporator unit, a motor for driving said impeller means, and a front member and a rear member adapted to be fitted to the casing so as to cover the open ends of the first and second chambers, characterized in that the front and rear members are interchangeable whereby the apparatus may be converted from apparatus for heating to apparatus for cooling by reversing the casing relative to the front and rear members.

In order that the invention may be readily understood and conveniently put into practical form reference will now be made to the accompanying illustrative drawings, wherein: Y

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view through the main body portion of the device after the opposite ends of the apparatus have been removed;

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the apparatus, with the opposite end members disengaged from the main body portion;

FIG. 3 illustrates in perspective a modified construction of the apparatus made in accordance with the invention; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a control means for use with the apparatus.

Reference is made initially to FIGS. 1 and 2, which depict apparatus having an outer casing of the shape of a paralielopipedon, having an inturned flange 34 at each end. That body is divided internally into two chambers 2 and 3 by a transverse wall 4.

The chamber 2 is divided into upper and lower sections by a partition wall 10 and in the lower section there is an evaporating unit 5 of conventional design and construction and an air filter 6, said air filter being removable, as is customary. Below the unit 5 is a deep tray 7 for collecting condensed water from said evaporating unit and leading from the rear end of the deep tray is a pipe 8 which extends through the wall 4 and into the chamber 3.

v will draw air in through the inlet 11 and upwardly through an opening 16 in the partition wall 10 through the upper section of the chamber 2 and out the end X of the casing 1, the circulatory passage of the air being indicated by the arrows B in FIG. 1. The air will be cooled in its passage through the unit 5.

. The chamber 3 has in it, in addition to the motor 15 and pedestal 25, a compressor unit 26 supported by resilient mounting 27, a condenser unit 18 extending across the end of the casing 1, a diffuser 21 havingan air inlet 23 coaxial with the shaft 17, an inclined baffie plate 20 which separates the chamber into upper and lower sections and a centrifugal impeller 24 which is fastened to the shaft 17. The outer end of the baffle plate 20 is at the same height relative to the base. of the casing 1 as the wall 10. At the lower end of the diffuser 21 there is a tray for holding the water delivered to the chamber 3 through the pipe 8. Air drawn in through the end Y of the casing 1 by the action of the impeller 24 will be caused to pass through the condenser unit 18, where it will be warmed, through the air inlet 23 of the, diffuser 21, through an opening 22 above the impeller and then through the upper section of the chamber 3 and out the end Y of the casing 1, the circulatory passage of the air being indicated by the arrows .A in FIG. 1.. In its passage that air will pass over any water in the tray at the bottom of the diffuser 21 and will effect evaporation of that water.

Electric power to the motor is through a lead 28 having in its length a suitable snap switch 29.

It is to be noted that no control devices are mounted on the casing 1.

Normally attached to the casing 1, interchangeably, are a front or inner cover member 30 and a rear or outer cover member 31, shown in FIG. 2, in detached relationship with the casing 1. The inner cover member 36 is conveniently made of synthetic plastic material and it is always located at that end of the casing which is directed inwardly toward the room which is to be heated, cooled or ventilated. Permanent magnets 32 are secured to one side of that member 30, along at least a part of the outer edge portion thereof, so as to provide means for holding the member 30 in position at either one end or the other of the casing 1, the outer part of which is conveniently made of ferrous metal.

The rear or outer cover member 31 which is of the same outer dimensions as the inner cover member 30 is conveniently made of synthetic plastic material and it has a substantially cylindrical neck or ring which is divided into two ducts 36 and 37 by a partition plate 38, the outer end part of which projects as a wing 39. Permanent magnet holders 40 are secured along at least a part of the outer edge portion of the member 31, so that the rear member 31 may be detachably fitted to either one end or the other of the casing 1, and a flap 42 is hingedly mounted on the lower part of said rear member. That flap 42 is arranged so that air may be drawn into the unit from a room and discharged to the outside.

The inner end 41 of the partition wall 38 is arranged to coincide with the outer edge of the inclined bathe plate and the outer end of the partition wall 10, and the cylindrical neck or ring of the member 31 is adapted to be engaged in a circular hole provided in a wall or window frame of a building, so that outside air may be drawn into a room or air discharged from a room to the outside through the member 31.

When the apparatus is to be used for cooling the air in a room the casing 1 is turned so that the end Y thereof is connected to the rear member 31, and the front member is mounted on the end X. If it is desired to heat the air in the room the front member is detached from the casing 1, which is detached from the rear member 31, then turned end-for-end so that the end X may be readily engaged with said rear member 31, and the front member is then fitted to the end Y.

For convenience of movement of the intermediate body portion of the apparatus that member is preferably mounted on castors or on a castor frame (not shown).

Reference is now made to FIG. 3 which illustrates a construction substantially the same as that depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 save that instead of the magnetic means for detachably holding the members 30 and 31 on the casing 1, the casing 1a has at its opposite ends guideways 50 adapted to slidably accommodate the interchangeable end members 30a and 31a.

FIG. 4 shows a control means having a handgrip 52 incorporated in a cable 53 adapted to be connected to the apparatus and to a source of power. Said handgrip 52 has manually operable controls in the form of four push buttons 54, 55, 56 and 57 operable, respectively, for controlling the main switch, for controlling the apparatus so that it will operate to provide for ventilation without the operation of either the cooling or the heating means, for controlling the minimum cooling and heating, and for controlling the maximum cooling and heating. There is also a thermostat control knob 58, and a diverter switch 59 for altering the apparatus from cooling to heating operation and vice versa.

It will be appreciated that there may be made many modifications in details of design and construction and in the internal arrangement of the parts within the casing 1. Thus, there may be provided spring-actuated catch means for fastening the front and rear members to the casing. However, all such modifications which come within the broad scope of the appended claims are to be deemed to be included in the ambit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus, for selectively heating and cooling air in a room, comprising an elongated casing having opposed open ends of identical dimensions, a first interior chamber communicating with one of said open ends and a second interior chamber communicating with the other of said open ends, a condenser unit in the first chamber and an evaporator unit in the second chamber, a compressor in said casing for circulating refrigerant through the condenser unit and through the evaporator unit, impeller means for inducing the flow of air past the conenser unit and past the evaporator unit, a motor for driving said impeller means, an inner cover member for communicating with the interior of the room and an outer cover member for communicating with the outer atmosphere, said cover members being removably connected to the casing for interchangeably covering said open ends, whereby in order to convert the apparatus from a heating unit to a cooling unit, and from a cooling unit to a heating unit as required, said casing is reversed relative to the inner and outer cover members, and control means for operating the apparatus.

2. Apparatus, for selectively heating and cooling air in a room, comprising an elongated casing having opposed open ends of identical dimensions, a first interior chamber communicating with one of said open ends and a second interior chamber communicating with the other of said open ends, a condenser unit in the first chamber and an evaporator unit in the second chamber, a compressor in said casing for circulating refrigerant through the condenser unit and through the evaporator unit, impeller means for inducing the flow of air past the condenser unit and past the evaporator unit, a motor for driving said impeller means, an inner cover member for communicating with the interior of the room and an outer cover member for communicating with the outer atmosphere, said cover members being removably connected to the casing for interchangeably covering said open ends, whereby in order to convert the apparatus from a heating unit to a cooling unit, and from a cooling unit to a heating unit as required, said casing is reversed relative to the inner and outer cover members, and control means having manually operable controls for controlling the several functions of the apparatus, said control means being connected to the casing through electric cable means.

3. Apparatus, for selectively heating and cooling air in a room, comprising an elongated casing having opposed open ends of identical dimensions, a first interior chamber communicating with one of said open ends and a second interior chamber communicating with the other of said open ends, a condenser unit in the first chamber and an evaporator unit in the second chamber, a compressor in said casing for circulating refrigerant through the condenser unit and through the evaporator unit, impeller means for inducing the flow of air past the condenser unit and past the evaporator unit, a motor for driving said impeller means, an inner cover member for communicating with the interior of the room and an outer cover member for communicating with the outer atmosphere, said cover members being removably connected to the casing for interchangeably covering said open ends, whereby in order to convert the apparatus from a heating unit to a cooling unit, and from a cooling unit to a heating unit as required, said casing is reversed relative to the inner and outer cover members, said outer cover member having an outer periphery and being provided inwardly of its outer periphery with a cylindrical neck adapted to extend through a circular hole of an outer window or wall of the room to communicate with the outer atmosphere through said cylindrical neck.

4. Apparatus as recited in claim 3 and wherein said first and second chambers respectively have substantially horizontal partitions respectively terminating in outer edges located respectively at said open ends of said cas ing and both being situated at the same elevation, said outer cover member having in said cylindrical neck thereof a substantially horizontal partition plate dividing said cylindrical neck into a pair of ducts respectively situated above and below said plate, and said plate having an inner edge located at the same elevation as said outer edges of said substantially horizontal partitions in said chambers with said inner edge of said partition plate located substantially at the outer edge of the partition of whichever one of said chambers is directed outwardly to have its open end covered by said outer cover member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Kucher 62262 Terry 62262 Gibson 62262 Graham 62262 Atchison 62262 Bell.

MacLeod 62262 MacLeod 62262 Tyler 62262 MacLeod 62--262 WILLIAM J. WYE, Primary Examiner. 

